Anger was playing it’s part too. There was a part of me that wanted to cut off from J because I was pissed off with her. Childish, but true.

This morning my anxiety was really bad. I’m travelling for work again this week. I won’t be in the office again until Monday, so I had a load of stuff to get finished. Mostly the anxiety was about therapy though. I couldn’t eat anything, but still had to take meds to settle my stomach. I’ve been shaky all day and my chest has been really tight.

That all meant that by this afternoon I really had to force myself to go to my session. The only reassurance I got was from knowing that I would feel shitty whether I went or not. It seemed worth the risk, because actually I couldn’t imagine feeling worse for it.

Over the weekend, I did email J about what was going on for me. I couldn’t sit on it until Tuesday. I think I expressed myself quite clearly. That made me more nervous because I had to face up to my words. The nerves and the anger put me on the defensive as soon as I walked through the door.

J asked what I’d like to use the session for. That annoyed me straight away, because I thought it would be obvious I needed to talk about how I’d felt over the weekend. It made me question whether I had made myself understood in my email. Me being upset enough about it to tell her that, even by email, meant I was extremely upset. But maybe it didn’t seem like such a big deal to her.

I brought up her holiday and said I’m finding it hard to know how to cope for such a long period without her, especially with Christmas coming up. I also said I’m upset that she didn’t think to tell me about it sooner, so we could prepare for it. Not that it would’ve been easier, it just would have felt more considerate.

J said she wasn’t sure why she didn’t tell me earlier, as she’d apparently told other clients a while ago. She said maybe she ‘hadn’t been brave enough’. She mentioned how she knew I’d been through a particularly rough patch recently and she probably guessed it wouldn’t land well. Being hugely self-critical, I started to think that it was somehow my fault. Like I should have made myself appear stronger, more stable, to make it easier for her.

However, I know that being in a bad place is not my fault. So I remained stubborn and withdrawn. What changed things was when she stopped analysing why it had upset me and apologised. I think that was what I wanted to hear. I wanted to know that she understood why I was distressed and was sorry for playing a part in it.

After that, I still felt cut off, but less prickly. J asked about why the prospect of next month is horrible for me and I couldn’t explain. I was scared to, but I read to her from my journal. I’d written from my child’s perspective about her going away and my feelings about Christmas. I tried not to let the adult part of me intervene, so the young part could really express herself.

That was super hard to read aloud. Telling people I care about that they’ve upset me is just not something I do. So sharing my writing from that small, desperate part of myself was painful. It felt intensely sad. Particularly the stuff about missing being with family at this time of year, remembering happy festivities and knowing it’ll never happen again.

By the end of my session, I did feel a little better about therapy and my relationship with J. There are still some lingering unpleasant feelings about it, but I’m not exactly sure what they are or why. It’s probably just that horrible and unsettling thought that an integral part of my support structure isn’t going to be there for a while.

I want to feel OK about having to cope alone, but it frightens me. I hate needing J this much; I hate being vulnerable and insecure. That just brings me back to self-hatred and obsessing about how I should or shouldn’t be.

This evening I’m still feeling introverted and isolated in my self-loathing. Destructive thoughts are circling, and keeping them under control requires a great deal of energy that I just don’t have right now.

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I can remember counting down the endless days..no, more like hours…when my therapist went away for a month this summer. It was so difficult, and occurred during a very difficult time in my life. I felt so abandoned, and shamed myself for feeling that way about it, as she obviously was not abandoning me. I knew she was a real person who was entitled to time off, just like everyone else. It’s just human nature to feel that way when you are struggling. I ended up planning things to take up the time…things that would distract me until I got to the next day. Then I could count one less day until she came back. I ended up trying some new things while she was gone, and came across a fantastic energy worker who also happened to be psychotherapist. He in no way filled her shoes, but he certainly helped my healing process while she was gone. The funny (not so funny) thing is, once my therapist came back, I realized I was still me. Nothing had changed. I hadn’t gotten worse, nor better. I survived and we carried on like it had never happened. I’m hoping you can find something to fill the space so you don’t feel so alone…

I’m glad you asked her. It’s good to know the truth. I send you warm thoughts and hope your life is better as this is winter 2017 and you wrote your post in the fall 2016. I’ve been exploring insecurity as well and taking to reading blog posts to learn how other people work with it. Here is my post that made me realize I couldn’t deal with my insecurity from my insecurity. I needed to handle it from another place..https://unbreakablejoy.wordpress.com/2017/02/01/so-insecure/
Maybe it will help….